It’s no secret these days that no one takes care of your retirement planning, except yourself. The idea of the company pension with a lifetime secure cash flow went out of style a long time ago along with the passenger pigeon. What about planning for your long-term health (e.g. annual checkups, chiropractic treatment, a nutrition plan)? When it comes to a person’s health care there is still a naïve perception that your doctor and the medical system are still going to take care of you. After all, doesn’t America have one of the best healthcare systems in the world? And when it comes to those medical expenses, wasn’t government health care like Medicare and Obamacare suppose to take care of that?

In actuality when it comes to your own health care and survival, you’re basically on your own. No one out there takes care of your retirement planning for you and in many ways, it’s the same with your health care. It’s not going to happen unless you proactively plan for it. If you feel you have a genetic ticking time bomb in your body it’s best to deal with it now before the symptoms start to show up. This is more so than ever in this age of fast food health care.

So one solution then is to think of your health as a financial asset. If you were to sit down with a financial planner the first thing they would want to do is create a roadmap to meet your goals and lay out a plan to make it happen. You would assess your strengths and deficiencies. Why not then do the same thing with your health?

Begin by taking a baseline of where you are and what you want to achieve. Whether it’s to lose weight, build endurance, improve agility or work on an old injury, develop a plan which suits your long-term issues. Now is the time to run an audit. A good trainer or chiropractor can help develop an agenda of tests and measures. Remember health is not just the absence of symptoms, instead, it’s more a state of optimal being in how we relate to others and the environment.

Ask questions of your providers and don’t settle for stock and trade answers. Most people would probably walk into the gas chamber if it was painted red, white and blue as they’re intimidated by the medical system. Assess your options. If you need a complicated surgery maybe it’s best to go out of your network. It is after all your health. A plan which is likely to succeed will reflect an honest evaluation and the actual goals to achieve it.